tbaba1234:
The Ajax side that beat Schalke in the Europa League QF last night:

—No player over 27
—Nine players aged 21 or under
—Four teenagers

Courtesy @bleacherreport icon4s Komekn

Age and experience are not necessarily commensurate.

Traore at Ajax is 21 has played in the premiership and has near 100 professional games in Europes leagues.
Add to that 38 senior caps for Burkina Faso, he may be 21. I would call him an experienced player.

KC has had around 50 professional games for City and not full games. But I wouldn't call him experienced.

Onyedinma is 20 just like KC but has played around a 100 games for Millwall, he started playing for Millwall at 16. His experience exceeds his age considerably.

The operative term being a, "blend of youth and experience" not age alone.

Gernot Rohr threatens to resign as Super Eagles coach



click the link below



http://winpalz.com/2017/04/14/gernot-rohr-threatens-to-resign-as-super-eagles-coach/

komekn:


Age and experience are not necessarily commensurate.

Traore at Ajax is 21 has played in the premiership and has near 100 professional games in Europes leagues.
Add to that 38 senior caps for Burkina Faso, he may be 21. I would call him an experienced player.

KC has had around 50 professional games for City and not full games. But I wouldn't call him experienced.

Onyedinma is 20 just like KC but has played around a 100 games for Millwall, he started playing for Millwall at 16. His experience exceeds his age considerably.

The operative term being a, "blend of youth and experience" not age alone.

Theoretically, I agree with the 'blend of youth and experience' but this Ajax team has more youth than experience.

The Ajax team of 1994-1996 was not a terribly experienced side.

I think, experience can be little but a team could still be successful.

Cosafa is trying to take 2 world cup slots. They want to make sure that they always have 2 teams in the world cup.

tbaba1234:
The Ajax side that beat Schalke in the Europa League QF last night:

—No player over 27
—Nine players aged 21 or under
—Four teenagers

Courtesy @bleacherreport icon4s Komekn

As komekn rightly put it. Check the number of professional games they have played thus far and tell me they are not experienced.

It's not just all about age.

komekn:


We have younger players who have potential who seem to have promise. But that's what it really is just unproven promise.

We can reel off a list of players from U17 to U20 who won multiple accolades at youth level but didn't deliver. You can't be a mouse a non entity in your club and hope to become a lion in the SE. It's not likely to happen.

Lukman Haruna, Rabui Ibrahim, Chrisantus, Stanley Okoro, the list is endless of promising young players who never delivered the promise they showed to us.

There are many others currently young promising but not able to deliver. The SE is not a place to take a chance. You earn your chance not by supposition or the assumption of promised potential. But putting in good quality performances in your home club.

In reality some of these players have had thier chance to play in Europe but have not been able to deliver. Ndidi, Onyekuru and other have delivered that's why they are being courted by the creme de La creme of the top clubs in Europe.

But if you are in Portugal playing youth football sorry you are not ready for the SE. If you are playing in a moi moi league in Bosnia sorry you are not ready.

Currently Taiwo is playing in the Swiss league which is rated much higher than the Nordic leagues. I don't expect him to be invited just like that. But if he is putting in good quality performances then he should be considered. Currently, outside of Echiejile who is clearly better than him amongst our possible LB options.

in that swiss league we have Manuel akanbi...currently play for Basel Fc. a 19 years old a goal scoring defender as well...
I will rate him higher...rather we call him up.
they're a lot of untested potentials u will never know how good they're until you give them a chance....
I tell u they're lot of good players in npfl that can outclass him in that team....
but they never get the chance...like etebo would have been wallowing in north Africa now if not for the Nigerian that owns the club where he plays...

I will rather we invite an home base player than start fighting for the call of a defender in his 30s.
we still have elderson, Kingsley madu, and lots more. they should be groomed

BascoVanVeli:
Cosafa is trying to take 2 world cup slots. They want to make sure that they always have 2 teams in the world cup.

lol, no be mouth dem dey use get that kain thing

Currently, they have just two decent teams in SA and Zambia, neither of which is likely to make it to Russia, I assume this plan is in view of Qatar 2022? In which case, they will need to start planning now to assemble decent talents, cuz all they have for now is structure, not talents. Lots of great ball jugglers in SA, not so much footballers

safarigirl:
lol, no be mouth dem dey use get that kain thing

Currently, they have just two decent teams in SA and Zambia, neither of which is likely to make it to Russia, I assume this plan is in view of Qatar 2022? In which case, they will need to start planning now to assemble decent talents, cuz all they have for now is structure, not talents. Lots of great ball jugglers in SA, not so much footballers

Its for 2026, they want to corner 2 out of the hopeful 10. I wonder how they would feel if Namibia and Swaziland end up representing them.

The problem is we relied heavily on Echiejile at LB. When he got injured we had to settle for Oshaniwa who didnt do badly eventually. Same happened at Right Back. As soon as we discovered Balogun, he also got injured before the WC. You see, we deserve to have our best options regardless of age. but the Taiwo I know in his prime is not a good left back IMO. Good Left midfield? yes. In fact I will play that taiwo as a left-wing back in a 3-4-3 formation. Right now, I doubt he can still compete at that level.

Humility017:

anyone who watched the 2014 world cup matches will agree most of the damages all came from the wings....especially the group phase...
and now calling for the inclusion of a left back in his 30s...
we still have idowu and others not yet tried..more so I am optimistic Nigeria will go far in next Chan that's an opportunity for inclusion of some home based lads to break into the SE

wow, they might just rekindle their glory days.

tbaba1234:
The Ajax side that beat Schalke in the Europa League QF last night:

—No player over 27
—Nine players aged 21 or under
—Four teenagers

Courtesy @bleacherreport icon4s Komekn

BascoVanVeli:


Its for 2026, they want to corner 2 out of the hopeful 10. I wonder how they would feel if Namibia and Swaziland end up representing them.

okay, that is feasible. ...

Those ten spots could be

CIV
Nigeria
Ghana
Egypt
Tunisia
Senegal
Cameroon
Algeria/DRC
SA
Zambia

Joebie:
The problem is we relied heavily on Echiejile at LB. When he got injured we had to settle for Oshaniwa who didnt do badly eventually. Same happened at Right Back. As soon as we discovered Balogun, he also got injured before the WC. You see, we deserve to have our best options regardless of age. but the Taiwo I know in his prime is not a good left back IMO. Good Left midfield? yes. In fact I will play that taiwo as a left-wing back in a 3-4-3 formation. Right now, I doubt he can still compete at that level.

you wrote true..
I still remember the words he vomited during keshi early days as SE manager..
which made him shut the doors on him in the SE setup and also his confession regarding SE bizarre outing at the RSA 2010 world cup...
moreover will he accept the leadership of lads like onazi in the SE ?
abeg we should scout for quality left back...and move ahead

tbaba1234:
The Ajax side that beat Schalke in the Europa League QF last night:

—No player over 27
—Nine players aged 21 or under
—Four teenagers

Courtesy @bleacherreport icon4s Komekn

Is this an Olympic football team side ni. Well Ajax are known for breeding youngsters it's not much of a surprise

This boy even had to roll his shorts to make it stand on his waist, he is even the team's captain. Where was I at his age . Excuse me thesupernerd can I get a time travelling machine I wan go younger pleese


NPFL U15 PROMISES: Osogbo fans applauds MFM FC's wonder kid

Mountain of Fire an Miracles Ministries FC diminutive midfielder, Lawal Sulaimon became the toast of many at the Oshogbo City Stadium during his team's Nigeria Professional Football League (NPFL) Under 15 Promises tournament.

MFM FC's brilliant performances could not see the lads through to the next round of the competition.
The Olukoya Boys who lost their first game of the competition 1-0 to ABS FC beat Sunshine Stars FC 3-0 and played out a one-all draw against Shooting Stars and Remo Stars with GTBank Principal Cup back-to-back top scorer, Eniayewu Hammed, Lawal Sulaimon, Atoyebi Gideon, Hammed Saheed, Olugade Jacob and Aina Ayobami, putting up five-star displays.

Lawal propelled his side to their first win of the tourney over Sunshine Stars, he provided the assist that led to Eniayewu first goal of the competition off a well taken free kick. The skilful playmaker capped his performance on that day with a goal from the penalty spot. His overall display during the tournament earned him standing ovation from spectators at the Oshogbo Stadium.

Lawal, an SS 2 student of Anwar-Ul-Islam Model College gege, Lagos shared his thought with MFM FC Media few minutes after their 1-1 draw against the Ibadan-based club Shooting Stars.

"I'm very happy for the game we played today and very happy for our performance. In the nearest future we see ourselves playing for Nigeria. I also want to thank the MFM General Overseer, Dr DK. Olukoya for his love for the youths," the creative midfielder told mountaintopfc.com.

safarigirl:
okay, that is feasible. ...
Those ten spots could be
CIV Nigeria Ghana Egypt Tunisia Senegal Cameroon Algeria/DRC SA Zambia

Not really, it would limit West Africa to 2 spots.

It would be fool hardy to implement qualifications by Regional zones in Africa. No continent does that. Asia at times have people all from the east of Asia. In 2010, there was no Asian Arab team in the WC. To hell with this their proposition. This was my fear when that Zimbabwean guy was the sole sponsor of Ahmad for the CAF presidency. I hope Ahmad and crew don't bulge. Nonsense... If it's like that, then West Africa needs 6 of the 9 slots. What is the Southern part of Africa scared of? Abeg make them no provoke me to anger for this peaceful Good Friday....

BascoVanVeli:


Its for 2026, they want to corner 2 out of the hopeful 10. I wonder how they would feel if Namibia and Swaziland end up representing them.

You can't see these faces and want to even conduct MRI. It'll be a waste of resources. These are truly young boys. I've seen pics of some from the eastern zone and they are young as well. I haven't been opportune d to see the northern zone teams, but I want to assume they are young. At this point I'd want to blame the NFF for not having an under 17 and under 20 coach. The under 17 coaches should be at these tournaments and select the best while also scouting other non-npfl academies for players. There should be a holiday gathering for the team until 5 months to the qualifiers when they are put in lengthy camps to prep them for national assignments. As for the under 20s, they promote the standout existing players from the graduating under 17 class while adding quality talents. The players not in npfl or NNL teams should then be loaned by their respective Academies to the league teams for a year to give them that big time experience. An agreement should be reached with these clubs that these players would be randomly summoned for training camps. This way we would always have a solid youth setup.
I know it's easier said than done but I know it's very doable.

Danycrusoe:
This boy even had to roll his shorts to make it stand on his waist, he is even the team's captain. Where was I at his age . Excuse me thesupernerd can I get a time travelling machine I wan go younger pleese


NPFL U15 PROMISES: Osogbo fans applauds MFM FC's wonder kid

Mountain of Fire an Miracles Ministries FC diminutive midfielder, Lawal Sulaimon became the toast of many at the Oshogbo City Stadium during his team's Nigeria Professional Football League (NPFL) Under 15 Promises tournament.

MFM FC's brilliant performances could not see the lads through to the next round of the competition.
The Olukoya Boys who lost their first game of the competition 1-0 to ABS FC beat Sunshine Stars FC 3-0 and played out a one-all draw against Shooting Stars and Remo Stars with GTBank Principal Cup back-to-back top scorer, Eniayewu Hammed, Lawal Sulaimon, Atoyebi Gideon, Hammed Saheed, Olugade Jacob and Aina Ayobami, putting up five-star displays.

Lawal propelled his side to their first win of the tourney over Sunshine Stars, he provided the assist that led to Eniayewu first goal of the competition off a well taken free kick. The skilful playmaker capped his performance on that day with a goal from the penalty spot. His overall display during the tournament earned him standing ovation from spectators at the Oshogbo Stadium.

Lawal, an SS 2 student of Anwar-Ul-Islam Model College gege, Lagos shared his thought with MFM FC Media few minutes after their 1-1 draw against the Ibadan-based club Shooting Stars.

"I'm very happy for the game we played today and very happy for our performance. In the nearest future we see ourselves playing for Nigeria. I also want to thank the MFM General Overseer, Dr DK. Olukoya for his love for the youths," the creative midfielder told mountaintopfc.com.

BascoVanVeli:


Not really, it would limit West Africa to 2 spots.

how?

Modified:

You mean each region has two spots? That can never happen under FIFA, it would make the game pointless as the WC is only for the best teams

Dedebanky85:
You can't see these faces and want to even conduct MRI. It'll be a waste of resources. These are truly young boys. I've seen pics of some from the eastern zone and they are young as well. I haven't been opportune d to see the northern zone teams, but I want to assume they are young. At this point I'd want to blame the NFF for not having an under 17 and under 20 coach. The under 17 coaches should be at these tournaments and select the best while also scouting other non-npfl academies for players. There should be a holiday gathering for the team until 5 months to the qualifiers when they are put in lengthy camps to prep them for national assignments. As for the under 20s, they promote the standout existing players from the graduating under 17 class while adding quality talents. The players not in npfl or NNL teams should then be loaned by their respective Academies to the league teams for a year to give them that big time experience. An agreement should be reached with these clubs that these players would be randomly summoned for training camps. This way we would always have a solid youth setup.
I know it's easier said than done but I know it's very doable.

you are right unfortunately NFF will only wait till caf roll out the qualifiers before they name the coaches for those teams. Also the nationwide league 1 which is the third tier league in the country will begin soon with npfl teams having their u19 sides in the NWL1 and some u19 players would be mandatory for the club sides in the NWL, I.e a team must have at least a particular number of players u19 of years age in their squad

as for the npfl u15 championship the northern zone hasn't started yet only the western N eastern region are on that's y u vnt seen any pix of the northern lads.

Joebie:
The problem is we relied heavily on Echiejile at LB. When he got injured we had to settle for Oshaniwa who didnt do badly eventually. Same happened at Right Back. As soon as we discovered Balogun, he also got injured before the WC. You see, we deserve to have our best options regardless of age. but the Taiwo I know in his prime is not a good left back IMO. Good Left midfield? yes. In fact I will play that taiwo as a left-wing back in a 3-4-3 formation. Right now, I doubt he can still compete at that level.

Thanks bro. He was more of a left midfielder.

Danycrusoe:


you are right unfortunately NFF will only wait till caf roll out the qualifiers before they name the coaches for those teams. Also the nationwide league 1 which is the third tier league in the country will begin soon with npfl teams having their u19 sides in the NWL1 and some u19 players would be mandatory for the club sides in the NWL, I.e a team must have at least a particular number of players u19 of years age in their squad

as for the npfl u15 championship the northern zone hasn't started yet only the western N eastern region are on that's y u vnt seen any pix of the northern lads.

When will the Northern Region Start theirs

@dedebanky85, yeah youre right. i just wish a rival, much younger supporters' club with more modern means of making this SE team spark once again. i discovered the current club cant even influence a scoreline or comeback. we can compose a song that may become unique alongside the team in years to come.
Case study and pattern of support= borussia dortmund fans; the craziest in europe.
@icon79 how can we show rohr than we need him 2stay even if dalungless doesnt have the passion4 what unifies nig?

safarigirl:
how?

Modified:

You mean each region has two spots? That can never happen under FIFA, it would make the game pointless as the WC is only for the best teams

This was the rubbish I watched the SAFA president sit on TV and say. Cosafa is just looking for a way to show they are now big and bad.

Dedebanky85:
It would be fool hardy to implement qualifications by Regional zones in Africa. No continent does that. Asia at times have people all from the east of Asia. In 2010, there was no Asian Arab team in the WC. To hell with this their proposition. This was my fear when that Zimbabwean guy was the sole sponsor of Ahmad for the CAF presidency. I hope Ahmad and crew don't bulge. Nonsense... If it's like that, then West Africa needs 6 of the 9 slots. What is the Southern part of Africa scared of? Abeg make them no provoke me to anger for this peaceful Good Friday....

The longer i sit on this topic the more i feel we rushed into this Ahmad thing. Can u imagine that in his 13 years at the head of his FA they never qualified to a single tournament at any age group.

Bros, I think that our best bet is to bully Dalung and Piniki (or whatever he calls himself) into paying the guy. The man is a professional, he'll quite once he realizes that he ain't working with a serious people.


O pari

daveP:

@icon79 how can we show rohr than we need him 2stay even if dalungless doesnt have the passion4 what unifies nig?

Orkpekyandega:
When will the Northern Region Start theirs

it starts next week

safarigirl:
lol, no be mouth dem dey use get that kain thing

Currently, they have just two decent teams in SA and Zambia, neither of which is likely to make it to Russia, I assume this plan is in view of Qatar 2022? In which case, they will need to start planning now to assemble decent talents, cuz all they have for now is structure, not talents. Lots of great ball jugglers in SA, not so much footballers

safarigirl:
lol, no be mouth dem dey use get that kain thing

Currently, they have just two decent teams in SA and Zambia, neither of which is likely to make it to Russia, I assume this plan is in view of Qatar 2022? In which case, they will need to start planning now to assemble decent talents, cuz all they have for now is structure, not talents. Lots of great ball jugglers in SA, not so much footballers

safarigirl:
lol, no be mouth dem dey use get that kain thing

Currently, they have just two decent teams in SA and Zambia, neither of which is likely to make it to Russia, I assume this plan is in view of Qatar 2022? In which case, they will need to start planning now to assemble decent talents, cuz all they have for now is structure, not talents. Lots of great ball jugglers in SA, not so much footballers

lol "lots of great ball jugglers in SA, not so much footballers"

I'm telling you, the thing is painful. And that guy is really outspoken. I just feel the other regions are jealous of Western African success except the North cos they always have 1 rep qualifying. Southern African teams need to get their acts together with regards their football... As for Ahmad, he came on the wave of transparency, so if he does otherwise as to favoring the South and East, he'd be unseated in 4 years.

BascoVanVeli:


The longer i sit on this topic the more i feel we rushed into this Ahmad thing. Can u imagine that in his 13 years at the head of his FA they never qualified to a single tournament at any age group.

Danycrusoe:
This boy even had to roll his shorts to make it stand on his waist, he is even the team's captain. Where was I at his age . Excuse me thesupernerd can I get a time travelling machine I wan go younger pleese


NPFL U15 PROMISES: Osogbo fans applauds MFM FC's wonder kid

Mountain of Fire an Miracles Ministries FC diminutive midfielder, Lawal Sulaimon became the toast of many at the Oshogbo City Stadium during his team's Nigeria Professional Football League (NPFL) Under 15 Promises tournament.

MFM FC's brilliant performances could not see the lads through to the next round of the competition.
The Olukoya Boys who lost their first game of the competition 1-0 to ABS FC beat Sunshine Stars FC 3-0 and played out a one-all draw against Shooting Stars and Remo Stars with GTBank Principal Cup back-to-back top scorer, Eniayewu Hammed, Lawal Sulaimon, Atoyebi Gideon, Hammed Saheed, Olugade Jacob and Aina Ayobami, putting up five-star displays.

Lawal propelled his side to their first win of the tourney over Sunshine Stars, he provided the assist that led to Eniayewu first goal of the competition off a well taken free kick. The skilful playmaker capped his performance on that day with a goal from the penalty spot. His overall display during the tournament earned him standing ovation from spectators at the Oshogbo Stadium.

Lawal, an SS 2 student of Anwar-Ul-Islam Model College gege, Lagos shared his thought with MFM FC Media few minutes after their 1-1 draw against the Ibadan-based club Shooting Stars.

"I'm very happy for the game we played today and very happy for our performance. In the nearest future we see ourselves playing for Nigeria. I also want to thank the MFM General Overseer, Dr DK. Olukoya for his love for the youths," the creative midfielder told mountaintopfc.com.

Seeing these boys makes me happy.

We cannot get it wrong if we continue with tourneys like these. I just wish the NTA, AIT or Supersports shows us at least the final match live.

Ikeme-less Wolverhampton Wanderers bow to Brighton & Hove Albion



With the Nigeria international absent due to injury, Paul Lambert’s men fell at home to the Seagulls in the English Championship game
Brighton & Hove Albion took advantage of Carl Ikeme’s injury and compounded Wolverhampton Wanderers’ misery with a 2-0 win in Friday’s English Championship clash at Molineux.


Paul Lambert’s men were on the losing side as Anthony Knockaert’s brace handed them their 18th defeat of the season.


Ikeme has missed Wolves’ last three games owing to a hamstring injury he sustained while on international duty with Nigeria.


It proved a huge blow for the already much-depleted Molineux giants, whose dream of grabbing an English Premier League ticket has faded in thin air.


"We started really well and for half an hour we were really in the game. But we were lost before half-time, where a catalogue of errors lead to their goal,’’ Lambert said after the game.


‘’We didn't test their goalkeeper enough while they were clinical. They played really well, got men behind the ball and, in the end, they deserve to go up."


With this result, Brighton need just four points from their remaining four games to seal promotion to the Premier League for the first time in their history.


Wolves are 16th on the log with 51 points from 41 games , They travel to Leeds United for their next game on Monday.

m.goal.com/x/en-ng/news/4110/nigerians-abroad/2017/04/14/34612862/ikeme-less-wolverhampton-wanderers-bow-to-brighton-hove

Sporting Kansas City Star Opara, Eligible For Nigeria, Not Thinking About Playing For USA



Sporting Kansas City central defender Ike Opara is not thinking about representing the United States national team at the moment because he wants to concentrate on his career, two years after he almost retired when he reputured his left Achilles tendon.


Born in North Carolina, United States 28 years ago to Nigerian parents, Opara was in the United States U20s squad at the Fifa U20 World Cup in Egypt back in 2009 and has played for the Olympic side.


''I'd love to be up there, but it's not on my radar at the moment, I just think that I've got too much to prove before I can consider that,'' Opara told mlssoccer.com.


''Obviously, putting together a full season again would be a good start, but I just want to be one of the leaders on our back line.


''For me, that's all I'm shooting for. Anything else is kind of icing on the cake to me.''


Ike Opara, who has no senior cap for the United States, will go head-to-head with Fanendo Adi on Saturday when Portland Timbers and Sporting KC face off in the American top flight.

Igho Kingsley


www.allnigeriasoccer.com/read_news.php?nid=22720

Hibernian Manager: Ambrose Good Enough For Any Scottish Club



Hibernian manager Neil Lennon says Nigerian defender Efe Ambrose has what it takes play regularly for any club in Scotland apart from Celtic.


Ambrose has been impressive since joining Hibernian on loan from newly crowned Scottish Premier League champions Celtic.


Ambrose, who is on the verge of winning the second-tier Scottish Championship title with Hibernian, was voted the division's best player for March.
Lennon praised the 2013 Africa Cup of Nations winner.


“I think Efe is probably one of the best players Hibs have seen here for quite a considerable time," Lennon told Edinburgh News.


"I think the Hibs fans appreciate the quality of player he is. I’m glad he has been able to showcase the talent that we all knew he had.


“He has been through the ringer. Sometimes players at clubs can be made a scapegoat and Efe certainly came into that bracket, but that doesn’t mean he’s a bad player.


“It’s no disgrace not to get into that Celtic team at the moment. They are setting the bar really high. He has come to Hibs and done exactly what I thought he would do.


“I think he’s the kind of player that would have played through it and come out the other side if he had the opportunity to do that.


“Obviously, Brendan (Rodgers, Celtic manager) has his own ideas. He’s got good centre-halves in there. If Efe doesn’t get a move, I’m sure he will try to force his way back into the team at Celtic. He’s got the strength of character to do that.


“I don’t think he ever lacked confidence in his own ability. Not in a arrogant sort of way. He just liked the thought of proving people wrong. And he’s done that. Efe could walk into any other team in Scotland. Any other team.


“This has been an important move for him in terms of his own profile, his reputation and his future. I think he has handled it very well. The fans here really appreciate what he’s done for the club as well. I think they are enjoying him being here and enjoying watching him play. I know I am.”


Hibernian could be crowned Scottish Championship (second division) winners if they beat visiting Queen of South on Saturday.

www.completesportsnigeria.com/hibernian-manager-ambrose-good-enough-scottish-club/